Owen Hargreaves claims Donny van de Beek can be Manchester United’s answer to Thomas Muller

Owen Hargreaves believes that Donny van de Beek can be Manchester United‘s answer to Thomas Muller as the Dutchman finally gets his chance in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side. 

The 23-year-old has been left frustrated by a lack of first team opportunities since his £40million arrival from Ajax earlier this summer, with Solskjaer cautious in getting the Dutchman involved. 

The United boss responded to calls for the attacking midfielder to get more game time, however, by naming Van De Beek in his starting line-up for the Champions League clash with RB Leipzig at Old Trafford.

Owen Hargreaves has high hopes that Donny van de Beek (C) can dazzle at Manchester United

The 23-year-old has struggled for first team minutes since joining for £40m from Ajax

And Hargreaves has high hopes that the former Ajax star can dazzle for United, insisting that, like Bayern Munich star Thomas Muller, once he gets his spot in the team, it will be very difficult to take him out.  

‘I think he’s a really good player,’ Hargreaves said on BT Sport. ‘He hasn’t had the opportunity to show it. 

‘He could be like what Thomas Muller is for bayern Munich – the style. Everybody tried to get Thomas Muller out of the team, but once he’s in, you can’t get him out in terms of goals assists, he’s very unselfish, he can press the ball, he works in a midfield three, he can play as an 8 or a 10. 

Hargreaves says, like Muller, once Van de Beek is in the side he will be hard to take out

‘[Van de Beek] is one of those… once he’s in the team Ole is going to find it hard to get him out.’

However, the former United midfielder noted that Solskjaer faces a selection dilemma in his midfield, with Van De Beek, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes all vying for spots in the centre of the park 

‘But the problem you have is: You’ve got £100m Pogba, Bruno Fernandes… getting them all in one team with the front three they have is going to be a challenge for Ole.’

United are looking to pick up from where they left off in Paris last week with another win in the Champions League, having earned an excellent 2-1 victory over the French champions. 

The German has been integral to the huge success of Bayern Munich in their recent history 

Solskjaer has explained his selection decisions, including the move to omit Fernandes and Marcus Rashford from his starting line up. 

‘Bruno and Marcus have played the last five, three for us and two internationals,’ he said. 

‘Scott played the last three plus three internationals. So five games in 14 days, six games in 17 for Scotty. You’ve got to look after the players.

‘We have to cause them [Leipzig] more problems than they can cause us. I’ve picked a team we think can win the game and cause problems. I’ll always pick a team I think can win the game.’